Codeword: Scrabble
by Linstead
Summary: <html><head></head>After a long and stressful day, Jay decides he rather wants to spend his evening with Erin than with a bunch of files.</html>


There was still a lot of work to be done, as usual. Catching the bad guy wasn't nearly enough; everything had to be precisely filed if they wanted to lock criminals away for a very long time.

It had been a very long, very stressful day and Jay didn't particularly want to spend the rest of his night doing paperwork. Most of his colleagues had gone home for the day already, except for Erin, Antonio and their boss, Hank Voight.

Jay looked up from his work and glanced at his partner sitting at the desk across from his, not paying any attention to him at all. He knew she knew, though. Erin always knew when he was looking at her, and she usually gave him that beautiful smile of hers, that distinctive smile that only she had.

"What is it, Jay?" she asked eventually, still not looking up at him.

"Nothing," he answered her, casually. "I was just wondering if you wanted to go get a drink after work."

This time she looked up at him and shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

He nodded, tapping his pen on his desk a couple of times.

"But maybe we should grab a bite first," she suggested, "can't drink on an empty stomach."

There it was. That smile that could light up a room, and somehow it felt as if she only ever showed it to him. He couldn't help but smile back at her, she had that effect over him.

"Some guys are going to Molly's tonight," Antonio pitched in, obviously oblivious to the moment he and Erin had. "My sister, Casey... some other guys from 51. That new paramedic will be there as well, Jay."

He immediately looked at his other co-worker, who had a big grin on his face. But Jay's smile faded a bit. He wasn't interested in Sylvie Brett at all.

"She really seems to like you," Antonio went on. "Gaby even told me she mentioned you once or twice during her last shift on the ambo."

That was not something he wanted to hear, at least not at this moment. Things were going good between him and Erin ever since Oskar Bembenek had put that bounty on his head for killing Jacob. She had been there for him when things got rough, she had his back like she always did. But this time it was different. Even though she hadn't given him any reason to believe that 'maybe one day' was today or tomorrow, his hopes definitely had gone up.

"Oh, does she now?" Erin's voice sounded interested and he could even hear her snicker a bit.

"I've only seen her twice, Antonio. That doesn't make us besties..."

"Well, suit yourself, my friend. She is a nice girl of what I've heared and she's pretty easy on the eyes too." He grinned again, winked and got up, putting on his leather jacket in the process.

"Okay, well I guess I'll see you guys later tonight? I've promised Gaby and Casey I'd have dinner with them, so I'm off."

"Later, dude," Jay said, looking back at Erin while Antonio left the bullpen.

She smiled at him again, but this time it wasn't her special smile. There was something missing. He didn't smile back.

"Erin..." he finally started up again, after a whole minute of staring at each other in silence.

"Don't, Jay. She sounds like a really nice girl, you should go have a drink with her." She got up and put on her coat, gathering her stuff, ready to head out the door and leave.

He didn't get up. He wanted to, but he couldn't. There was something in her tone that made clear that she made up her mind about tonight.

Damn you, Antonio.

"So we're not..." He couldn't even finish his sentences anymore, but that was something that wasn't necessary around Erin. Like she knew when he was looking at her, she knew exactly what he wanted to say to her. She knew him too well. Except when it came to his feelings.

"I have this thing," she said, "I promised my mom I'd meet her and her new husband for dinner. Maybe I'll see you later at Molly's."

She started walking towards the staircase and he just sat there, feeling like an idiot for not stopping her, for not asking her to have dinner and drinks with him, for not telling her that he didn't like Sylvie like that, but that he liked her. And if truth be told, he had no idea how to tell her. What to say. How to convince her somehow. But there was one thing... one thing she would understand.

"Erin." This time he got up off his chair and walked after her. She stopped and turned around, facing him again, arms crossed in front of her chest.

"What?"

He shrugged and smiled a bit her. "You know I'd rather play scrabble with you."

She looked at him for a second, one of her eyebrows raised high. But then she cracked a smile and laughed, shaking her head.

"Not tonight, Jay. Maybe one day."

She turned around again and walked down the stairs, leaving him there all by himself.


End file.
